VIDEO EXCLUSIVE: Armand Assante On Why Mob Movies Still Intrigue Audiences, His New Film ‘Don Q’

Veteran actor Armand Assante shared what drives his new mob-boss movie Don Q and why he believes mafia movies have withstood the test of time.

The 2024 film Don Q follows the title character, played by Assante, a Little Italy resident who delusionally believes himself to be a mafia boss. When a real-deal ex-con returns to the area, Don and his loyal recruit soon find themselves in a ruthless back and forth.

Assante reflected on what made his character a standout narrator. “I think that people kind of get a kick out of this character because he is very much delusional in a lot of ways, not just because he is off his medication, but because he considers the possibility of, ‘How do I resolve my problems, how do I resolve the inhumane things I’m seeing in my own arena,’” he told uInterview founder Erik Meers.

Assante shared, “I just feel it’s kind of, in a strange way, a metaphor for what people are going through today…in a strange way, it’s about powerlessness. It’s about people feeling incredibly vulnerable to the forces they have no longer control over.”

He expressed, “I’ve only seen the film once with an audience, but the feeling that I got out of it was that people were kind of caught up in the amusement of this guy that’s just overwhelmed by what he’s confronted by. But in a strange way, I think it rings a chord in people, in what the American people today are actually going through. That vulnerability, that feeling of ‘How do I make sense out of any of this?'”

An actor known for his role as the mob boss John Gotti in the 1996 HBO television film Gotti, Assante reflected on what makes the mob genre so enticing, both to his character and the audience: “I think the fascination with the mob genre in America is that people want things today to be resolved that they have no control over. 

He explained, “And I think, as they did with the American western, which is a biblical law – a cowboy rode into town, he resolved the problem, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth – in today’s world it’s a little more complex, but why people I think are so drawn to mob, the lead character resolves whatever the parameters of good and evil are in their own head. I think people today very much want things done. It’s unconscious. That’s the unconscious appetite for that entertainment. They want to see something resolved somewhere, they want to see justice in some form.”

Assante continued, “I think the whole mafia code always had this kind of justice. And I think that people want that very much in their lives, that’s why they’re sort of drawn to not just mob films, but films really that have to do with right and wrong, and what is moral authority, what is real righteousness, what is the quid pro quo where we have to all come together and make a decision. It’s an ongoing theme throughout history.”

Don Q is now available to stream.

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